"One of the reasons that I made the decision on Terrell Owens was because I thought so much of our young receivers. Not only Roy Williams ... but our other young receivers — Miles Austin, Sam Hurd, those are guys that will now have a chance," Jones said Thursday night. "It would really have to be a real opportunity for us to go there.

"The good news with our team right now is we can go about any direction we want to in the draft and pick the best player."

Owens was released last week and later signed with the Buffalo Bills.

Jones, a former Arkansas Razorbacks player, was in Little Rock to be honored by Easter Seals as its 2009 Arkansan of the Year. He was accompanied by three Cowboys: quarterback Tony Romo, tight end Jason Witten and running back Felix Jones.

There were reports of a rift last season between Romo, Witten and Owens. Reporters were not permitted to talk to Romo or Witten on Thursday night.

Jerry Jones did speak briefly to reporters about next season.

"We've got a great core base put together. We've made some changes in the offseason. We think that's going to really be very helpful — both sides of the ball and on special teams," he said. "We've got a chance to get as many as nine players in the draft, and we'll need about 80 percent of those to be players."